Canadian Bacon in a Hurry

I was going to make a batch of Canadian Bacon (really, back bacon; it got the Canadian Bacon name during WW2) and I forgot to get it in the cure earlier in the week. So here's a try at doing it faster. This could also be Kassler Rippchen - there's not a huge difference between a pork loin and pork chops - a bit different place on the pig. 

In any event, it's a basic cured pork loin (with some aromatics) that is then smoked to cook it at the end (so you can eat it cold, although it's awfully good warmed up).  Normally, it's a 3-4 day curing process to let the brine diffuse into the center of the meat.  I did it in slices so that the time to cure would be shorter. Cure time is all about the distance from brine to meat and sliced, the longest distance from "brine" to "meat" is more like 1/2" instead of "inches".

 

Trim and slice

Untrimmed Loin

I started with a 2 1/4 lb pork loin from the supermarket. They typically come with a layer of fat (and connective tissue) on one side which I trim off.  The fat just gets in the way of the curing, and nobody really likes eating sinew.
After the trim, I sliced it into 6 chunks a bit more than an inch thick.  One doesn't want to mix up more of the curing brine than you have to, so I did a quick check of the volume of the slices and decided that 2 quarts would be about right. 

Trimmed Loin

Fit Check

Sliced

Brine Mix

 

Into the brine

The standard recipe in Ruhlman's book makes a gallon, so I cut it in half:

• 1.5 cups kosher salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 Tablespoons pink salt

This is a really useful basic ratio for things - you can cure anything with this mix. There's nothing special about the sugar - you could replace it with molasses or brown sugar or maple syrup if you want a different flavor.


Then all the seasonings - which is where it gets interesting.  Traditional Canadian Bacon is basically thyme and garlic and that's about it.  I like a more pancetta-like flavor and I decided to go a bit tropical this time - so I used (clockwise around the picture: garlic,  juniper berries, black pepper, thyme, bay leaves, nutmeg, and allspice. (That's a huge piece of nutmeg there, I grated a tiny bit off for this).

Seasoning for the Cure

Ice to chill the brine

I boiled 2 quarts of water in the electric kettle and dissolved the brine components, but I made a mistake - usually, I boil about 1/2 to 3/4 of what I need, dissolve the salt and sugar, and then dump ice in to cool it down.  You don't want to dump boiling hot brine on your meat or it will cook the meat.  You can let it cool, but since I was in a hurry, the ice bath seemed to be the way to fix this particular problem.

Then, spices in the bottom of the container (I smashed the allspice, garlic, pepper, and juniper up before), dump the pork in, then the brine.   I had some leftover pork shoulder from earlier this week, so I just threw it in (cured pork, how can you go wrong?). Something on top to push the floating meat down below the surface, and it's into the refrigerator for a day or so.

 

 

Now we wait

Now we wait....